ITC Code On Conditional Access For Pay TV

The ITC has announced that it is to draw up a code of practice on conditional access. This will be seen as a response to the dominance of BSkyB in the encryption and decoding of cable and satellite broadcasting signals.

The ITC has already proposed to the Government that its existing powers should be widened so that the provision of conditional access services for subscription television should itself be a “licensable activity”, and that all conditional access systems in the UK should be brought within the scope of the ITC’s existing statutory competition powers.

The ITC has also said the code is being drawn up as a result of growing public concerns about the concentration of decoding technology and the companies who determine who provides subscription television services and on what terms.